Bychakh (Yakut Knife)
Traditional knife of the Yakut (Sakha) people, with an asymmetric blade bearing a fuller on one side and a convex edge on the other, a birch-burl handle and a leather sheath. Forged by Yakut blacksmiths from local iron since pre-Russian times, it is used for carving wood, dressing hides and preparing fish and meat, an everyday tool with a remarkably constant design. The blade is set into a short, rounded handle of birch burl, and the whole knife, worn at the belt in a wooden-lined leather sheath, fits the hand so well that it can be used for hours without fatigue. Yakut smithing was famed in S